Lost and Found
by Stitchpuppy01
Summary: Sasori's surviving replica turns Gaara into a doll with a new experiment and buries him deep underground. Hinata miraculously finds him after getting separated from her team, but no one knows it's really Gaara except her... GaaXHina
1. Lost and Found

*Disclaimer* If you've heard of me before, you know I don't own Naruto. *sigh* or Gaara…

Lost and Found

1

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_I can't move…! _Gaara cried inwardly. _Please…move! Do something! Move…_

This went far beyond the horrors of what one would call hell. Hell would have been much better than this. Gaara's limbs, if that's what you would call them, were hard and smooth, exactly like the hard wood they were made of, and the joints of his new form were connected by little round balls which made for easy maneuvering for any child who wished to rip him apart. Not that that would have been any great issue since Gaara couldn't even feel any of his limbs.

And it wasn't even as if his skin, arms, and legs felt numb; at least with that you felt a soft electrifying tingle crawling over you that let you _know _it was numb, but with this there was simply…nothing. Gaara could feel no part of him. Not his hands, his fingertips, his mouth, his elbows…Even though Gaara wished with all his conscious being that he were able, deep down he knew it moving was an impossibility. How could one move without the assistance of blood, bones, and nerves?

Such must be the feelings, or non-feelings, of a puppet. If a puppet were to have a conscious state of mind, that is. Kankuro's and Sasori's puppets moved like they were people with active joints and thoughts, but without the aid of the puppeteer, the dolls would be nothing but scrap piles of…firewood. Sasori was a master at this inanimate manipulation--better than Kankuro even--and over the many years he'd spent living, devised a number of ways to expand the art of puppet making. Of course his favorite past time remained constructing puppets out of the flesh and bones of people, but the jutsu he'd used on Gaara was a new experimental one which he'd never told anyone about.

And that did not help Gaara's situation in the least.

Sakura Haruno had supposedly killed Sasori, but it was anyone's guess as to whether or not he'd made…back-ups.

He had.

Like a true Akatsuki artist, or any artist for that matter, Sasori never wanted his talent to go to waste. Or to die away.

And because of this Gaara was here, enclosed in a small box, buried far beneath the earth, trapped in silent darkness for the rest of eternity, unable to move, unable to speak, and unable to scream. His soul, trapped in the host of a lifeless doll. The doll was like a cage, a cell, a prison, binding Gaara's chakra with the grip of a thousand ton shackle, as was his mind and spirit, and the concoction of a reversal jutsu was one that not even Sasori himself had worked out. The replica had told Gaara himself before throwing him inside the tattered wooden box.

It would only be a matter of time before his sanity began to spin out of control, and Gaara knew it would be nothing like how it was years ago when he was a child. It would be gradual, maddening, suffocating, and insurmountably and indescribably lonely. Not even the Shukaku was there to keep him company, for it had been extracted from him months ago, and the reminder of this only served as a chronic regret that he had not died that day. Death would have been much more preferable to this.

_This_…was dying.

No one knew where Gaara was, what had happened, or even that Sasori's replica existed at all.

And what of the Sand Village?

More than half of Gaara's worries branched out of this thought, driving him closer and closer to insanity with every passing second. Temari, Kankuro, Baki, Matsuri…and what of the nin of Konoha? It wouldn't be long before the counsel of Sand enlisted a search party of investigators there. Gaara was the Kazekage and a sudden disappearance was definitely cause for alarm, so it would only be second nature to alert the allies of Suna.

Naruto would be upset, as would be his friends, especially when a year, two years, three years, had passed without anyone being any closer to his whereabouts. Sasori's replica might show up, but Gaara doubted very much that he would give any clue as to where he had buried him. What purpose would that serve?

Just the thought of Gaara suffering alone in the darkness beneath the ground like an abandoned corpse must serve for constant amusement. But in his state, Gaara couldn't even feel angry.

All he could feel…was desperation and suffering.

Even though the glass eyes wrenched inside the doll's head were purely for show, Gaara found that he could actually _see_ out of them. But then again, what was the point of seeing when there was nothing _to_ see?

Already it had been three days, or so Gaara assumed since there was no real way to tell time from where he was, and the predictions of his mental distress were beginning to come to fruition.

_Help…_Gaara thought roughly. _I don't care who…at this point it doesn't even matter if I stay a doll forever…just…I need to get out of here. Anywhere is better than this!_

Flashes of his past began assaulting him, creeping into his mind, torturing him…attacking him…

Before when Gaara's migraines where dominant, the sharp pain in his head would cast him into the barriers of his mind. Inside there was a maze submerged in an endless void of black with no way out, and in the center was, or had been, the Shukaku, barely contained within a great tea jar covered in seals, taunting and mocking Gaara, urging him to kill--to take lives.

But since the Shukaku was gone, there was no way back to that place…not that he wanted to relive those nightmares, but as time increased, heightening the uselessness and helplessness of the situation, Gaara found that his desires no longer mattered.

His nightmares were reliving themselves.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

Hinata coughed and sputtered, stumbling in the violent winds and bullet-like sand kicked up by an unexpected storm, and she could no longer see where she was going. In such a situation there was little her Byakugan could do for her, and even if she were to try to use it, the rushing sand would dig into her eyes, rendering her blind.

Hinata continued like this for what seemed like several hours, throat dry and consciousness fading, so it was an instant of pure luck when she happened to some across a sturdy cave carved into the side of a stone cliff.

She tripped inside, falling on her stomach, gasping and clutching her throat which was very pained from yelling the names of her teammates. The Leaf Village had been assigned to participate in the search for the missing Kazekage only half a week ago, and all of Konoha's best trackers had been gathered for the mission. Naruto, of course, had to come, since he and the Kazekage--Gaara he called him--were friends, and along with him he requested teammates Sakura and Lee.

There were three teams, and in every team there was a tracker. Shino went with Naruto, Lee, and Sakura. They were assigned to check the northern parts of Wind Country. Shino's father went with the other jonins who were assigned to the northeastern parts of Wind, and Hinata, Neji, Kiba, and Shikamaru were assigned to the western hemisphere. Neji and Hinata were prime candidates for the search mission because of their Byakugan. They even had some relatives at the main camp for back-up assistance.

There were a large number of areas to be checked and routes to be explored. Gaara hadn't disappeared that long ago, so the chances of him still being Wind Country were extremely good. All of Suna had been thoroughly inspected with no traces of their precious Kazekage. Teams had split into fours instead of the usual three, making the dispersion of pairs a possibility in case it ever became a need. Wind Country…was big. Well of course, it's a _country_.

Akamaru had picked up Gaara's scent hours after the four of them set out, but there were traces of two separate scents. Neji and Shikamaru went to track what they believed to be the enemy's scent while Kiba and Hinata, along with the hefty Akamaru, went to track Gaara's scent.

When the winds started to pick up, Kiba insisted they find a place of shelter, but before they knew it, sand started kicking up at furious rates, flying through the air, purging the two teammates apart. The sand was blinding--worse than a heavy fog--and even with the help of Hinata's Byakugan, they had not been able to keep from getting separated.

Hinata leaned against the cave wall, breathing heavily, and turned toward the cave's entrance to watch the violent sand pass by the entrance. She was deathly worried for Kiba and Akamaru, even Niisan and Shikamaru, but at least none of them were alone.

She was.

But at least she had shelter.

It was unfortunate, however, that Hinata had become so lost in the desert because of this unexpected storm, and if her Byakugan, which only extended across an expanse of half a dozen miles, was unable to detect anything within her limits, she was, for lack of a better term, screwed.

Hinata and Kiba had separated from the group early this morning, and it had been several hours since then, meaning there was plenty of time for the storm to die down.

Too bad it didn't.

It raged on all day, which was bad news for her team. The new sand layer would undoubtedly cover up the scent Akamaru had picked up, Hinata's included, so unless they found each other by chance, they wouldn't find each other at all.

Superb. Not only did they have the Kazekage to look for, but now two, possibly four, other Konoha nin. Things were not going well.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

Hinata had little choice but to sleep. Once she tried to use her Byakugan and regretted it. Not only did she see nothing, but in the process, tired herself out immensely.

Sleeping recovered most of Hinata's strength enough to where she could walk, but she wasn't fully up to par. The winds were just dying down when she awoke, so Hinata thought it best to wait an hour longer for the area to become entirely visible.

When things were good and calm, the Hyuga emerged from the cave, glancing up into the sky. It was bright and sunny, making for a brilliant turn of luck, so the instant after looking down, activated her Byakugan.

Hinata searched in all directions, turning in a 360 degree motion, and saw nothing but endless miles of sand. "This is bad," Hinata mumbled to herself. Her throat had become less agonizing overnight, but it was still dry. If she didn't find water by this afternoon, she would be in trouble. Well, in more trouble.

Hinata had no idea which direction to go in, so she looked towards the sky for answers. There were hardly any clouds in the hemisphere, just a few cottony wisps and a bright glaring sun scorching down upon the earth.

_So much hotter here than at home…_Hinata thought silently.

A dark figure caught her eye and she saw a bird, a hawk it seemed, soaring overhead, circling something. The hawk was a little ways off from her, so she decided to follow it. It's not like she had anything better to go on.

When she'd reached the spot where overhead circled the bird, Hinata was very unsurprised to see nothing of interest. There were a few cacti, some rocks, things of that nature. Lots of dry sand…Hinata began missing the colors of Konoha. The wide ranges of the desert were beginning to feel incredibly lonely.

Hinata was eager to be on her way, but before going, activated her Byakugan just to be careful, and once again looked in all directions. Nothing but sand dunes. She sighed and shook her head, starting in a direction she hoped was east, and wound up tripping over a rock.

"O-Ow…" Hinata muttered, feeling quite stupid. Luckily no one had been around to see that.

Would she ever change?

Hinata rose to her knees, head pointing toward the ground, and parted her mouth slightly at what she saw. Tiny black speckles of…something stained on the pale, tan rocks buried in the sand. This was strange. It was obvious that these speckles were some sort of manmade liquid. A type of poison, perhaps? Certainly not poison from a desert creature. Being a professional healer, Hinata was exposed to every different kind of poison, therefore taught in the art of concocting remedies for these poisons.

She used her Byakugan and located similar speckles on a few cactus needles nearby.

Hinata closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as ever, straining her Byakugan to almost painful levels, then opened them, boring into the ground. There was something beneath the sand--far beneath. It was always difficult looking through solids, but Hinata managed to locate a small…rectangular shape in the ground. It would take some time, but she was sure she could dig it up within a half hour, maybe more.

It took forty five minutes. When Hinata saw the corner of a little brown box poking out of the sand, she swept the grains from around it and pulled the box out carefully. It was worn and made of particularly old wood, and not exactly rectangular, but more…coffin shaped.

Did some child come all the way out here to bury his pet or something?

The small wooden coffin was nailed shut, but Hinata easily removed the lid. When she peeked inside, she widened her eyes with curiosity at what was inside.

It was a…doll.

Very curious.

Hinata handled the doll with care, just in case it was old, which it didn't really seem like it was, and she turned it every which way, examining it. The doll was expertly made, that was more than certain, and the ruffled red hair on it's head was shockingly authentic. The clothes Hinata recognized as the white robes of a Kage, and underneath was the red outfit of a top ranking Jonin, body armor and all. The joints moved smoothly, and the little hands on the doll were very precise with skin color almost matching hers, only a bit darker. Then again, any skin color was darker when compared to a Hyuga's who's complexion was pale as sin.

Hinata saw that the doll's face was realistic too, with the perfect nose and lip shape of a human.

But what Hinata found most interesting were the eyes…

So…alive.

Did this have anything to do with the disappearance of the Kazekage? Hinata had never seen what the Kazekage looked like, but it was very possible that this doll was a likeness of him. And if that was the case, was this a sign or a message left by the culprit?

Hinata jumped out of the whole she'd dug and landed delicately on the soft sand. Standing to her feet, she glanced down at the doll with a sigh. The heiress couldn't explain it, but somehow the desert had suddenly become less…isolated.

"Well," Hinata creased her forehead at the strange doll, "do you want to pick the direction, or should I?"

**//*******************************//A/N//******************************//**

**Pfft, coffin. Sasori has a mean sense of humor.**

**(wait, what the hell kind of A/N was this?)**


	2. Nice To Meet You

Nice to Meet You

2

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Never before had such a pain evaporated so quickly. It was exactly as if the sun had shone on him out of nowhere, welcoming him into the undeserving fields of heaven, and for a split second he thought he'd really died. Gaara had no nerves in his eyes, so there was nothing to hold him back from the pure beauty of it, but an instant later that beauty was replaced with another.

Eyes…strange, pearly eyes…the eyes of a woman. They stared down at him with blatant curiosity and intense interest. The feeling of seeing another person after so long being submerged in darkness was like nothing he'd ever felt before. Relief would have been the best way to describe it, but it wasn't nearly as powerful as the word he was looking for. Overwhelmed, perhaps?

The woman was one who Gaara had never seen before. The Kazekage would never forget a face and he was certain he'd especially never forget one such as this. Long and dark flowing hair, pale flawless skin, and impossibly kind eyes. Never before had he seen someone with so much innocence in their eyes…

But whoever she was, she was not of Sand. By the colors and type of attire she wore, Gaara guessed she was a member of Konoha.

So he had been right. They were already looking for him. More soul cleansing relief. But a lot still remained before Gaara was to have any hope of returning to normal. However, at the moment he was just happy someone had found him.

Gaara feared the woman might shove him back into the box, which actually turned out to be a miniature coffin, but she didn't, thank Kami. Instead she tucked him inside a leather pouch strapped around her waist, conveniently allowing his head to poke out of the top since his whole form would not fit inside the pocket, and tossed that wretched coffin back into the hole it belonged in.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

The desert was vast, hot, colorless, and all around insufferable. The day was dragging on slowly, painfully slow, and the heat had only worsened as the hours progressed causing Hinata's footsteps to shorten in length. "It's so hot…" she breathed, wiping a thin sweat trickle from her face. "I can't believe people actually live whole lives here…"

From time to time Hinata would look down at her side, making sure the doll hadn't moved or fallen from the pouch she'd placed in, then stretch her eyesight as far as she was able to without the help of her Byakugan. She'd activated several times already, five times this morning and six times this afternoon, only to see that it was getting her nowhere. It put a significantly lesser amount of strain on her eyes than when the sun was not…bearing down on the place like the fire from a comet, so Hinata refrained from using it for a while.

It would do no good to overexert herself so early.

"It must have been really cool under the sand, huh Kazekage-sama," Hinata said to the doll with a little giggle. The heat was getting to her. Hinata knew this, and yet she did not care. "But then again, you probably wouldn't be able to feel it. Lucky you."

Hinata felt ridiculous, talking to a doll, but what other company did she have? Chatting to a lifeless object was seeming less and less absurd by the hour.

Hinata came to a stop, taking one long heavy sigh. She brought both hands up to her chin in a hand sign and quietly whispered with emphasis, "Byakugan!" It was almost painful, using her kekkei genkai in such blinding light, but just beyond the melting horizon Hinata saw something in the shape of a tree.

"Oh, thank God…" she breathed to herself, deactivating her Byakugan. The second she did, there was a sharp pang in her head. "Ah…" she moaned painfully, pressing a palm against her sweating forehead. It wasn't healthy using the Byakugan so many times in one day, especially under such unfavorable conditions, but given the circumstances, Hinata had little choice.

The tree in the distance indicated water which meant there was an oasis. It was about four miles off, making for a very long walk for her condition, but she pressed forward. Hinata would have liked to run there, but the sluggishness in her legs prevented her from doing so.

She'd have to walk, but better walking than crawling.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

This was bad. So very bad. Where the hell was Hinata! Kiba and Akamaru had sniffed around all day and found no trace of her. Sand wasn't good for sustaining scents, especially since after that bloody storm yesterday, and Akamaru was tired of sucking it up his nose. The sun would be setting soon and the night would bring a merciless cold. Kiba had Akamaru who was covered in thick fur, so he'd be fine sleeping against him, but Hinata was sorely out of luck.

"Fuck," Kiba cursed. He'd stopped swearing when Hinata was around, but now that she wasn't they came out in bursts accompanied with random explosions of frustration. Akamaru whined, sneezing a few grains of sand out his nose, and turned to Kiba with a concerned look. "I know boy," Kiba soothed, stroking the large canine's fur. "I'm worried about her too. We have to catch up with the others as soon as we can, but we have to find Hinata first. We gotta keep looking, boy." Akamaru pressed his large head against Kiba's chest affectionately and continued sniffing along the ground.

Kiba thought of Neji and Shikamaru, wondering how they were progressing in their search. Kiba's progress was in the negatives, of course, because not only had he found _nothing_, but in addition to that, lost his partner.

"Neji will kill me…" he muttered exasperatedly.

Neji and Hinata had become quite close ever since the chunnin exams, and although Kiba had always hated Neji (and still did), he was glad that the Hyuga had evolved from being such a tremendous asshole. Now he was just a regular asshole, but one that at least loved his cousin.

Akamaru elevated his large snout and gave a loud triumphant bark.

"Ah! So you found something?" Kiba beamed with a relieving grin. "Thank God!" He leaped upon the large white dog's back and gave his shoulders two big pats. "Come on, boy! Let's go!"

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

"What is this?" Shikamaru asked aloud. Neji deactivated his Byakugan and lowered to the ground, sweeping the sand from the large trap door.

Neji and Shikamaru had come across a very large number of stone pillars whose bases were heavily concealed in dry yellowish weeds. The sand storm yesterday had set them back a great deal, but at least they'd finally come across _something. _Neji, who'd been continuously straining his Byakugan all day, finally came across something worth investigating. An underground chamber. Or laboratory. Whatever you wanted to call it, it wasn't supposed to be here.

"Jeez, this thing's the exact color of the ground. If it wasn't for your Byakugan we might have passed right over it," Shikamaru commented lazily, tired and irritated from the heat. He'd always hated hot weather.

"Yes, that and the weeds were blocking it from view. Not to mention it's not a large entrance to begin with," Neji responded, digging his fingers beneath the lid of the trap door.

With little effort he popped the slab of wood from it's place and lifted it above his head. Neji tilted his head to look inside, glaring into the darkness beyond the descending stairs, and stood to his feet, thrusting the trapped door completely backwards. "Well, shall we go?" he insisted.

"If we have to…"

Inside it was dark as holy hell, but at least it was cooler. Much cooler. But not like the comforting shaded kind…the slithering feeling of death kind.

"I can't see a thing in here," Shikamaru complained.

Neji activated his Byakugan again, which worked a much better in the dark than in the light, and scanned the empty chamber. "There are what looks like several scraps of charred scrolls in the corner, but nothing else," Neji explained, Byakugan still activated.

"I can't believe that," Shikamaru said. "Whoever uses this place has been here recently, I can tell. The door only had a thin layer of sand on it, despite yesterday's dust sweep, not to mention it was easy enough to move without any exertion. They probably packed all their stuff and split since they knew we were coming, so we should take a closer look around before writing anything off."

And they did just that. Neji went to inspect the scorched bits of paper while Shikamaru went to examine small corners and crevices. It was dark, but he had a match in his vest which he took out and lit. Any piece of evidence, no matter how small, would be of help, so the two nin made sure to be as thorough as possible.

Shikamaru rose from inspecting a corner and took a step back, only to stumble against a crack in the floor. He dropped the match, grabbing onto the cool, stony wall, and when he did his fingers slid right into a deep and jagged crevice. "What the hell?" he muttered aloud.

"What is it?" Neji voiced in the dark.

Shikamaru removed his hand, lighting another match to inspect the large crack, and a pale grey hand shot out from beyond the wall and clawed his neck.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was humiliating, having to be lugged around like this, as if he were a piece of equipment or a child's toy, but at the moment that's exactly what Gaara was. This frustration was easy enough to push back, however, for his concern for the strange woman ranked at the top of his worries right now.

Gaara did not know where she was going or what she had seen a few miles back, but now that it was in sight, Gaara could see that the point of her destination was an oasis. He was very glad for this, because she looked as if she were going to collapse at any moment. A human could only go for so long without food and water, and even a day ensnared in such powerful heat can cause tremendous damage to the mind and body.

Gaara himself was no longer a human. He was a thing. An item. A worthless item. Gaara growled inwardly.

The woman suddenly fell to her knees, gasping. A pang of fear wrenched inside what would have been Gaara's gut were he in human form, and it was slightly painful. Strange how even though he had no nerves he could still feel pain. Ah, but hadn't that always been the case with him?

Never damaged and yet always damaged?

_Rise…_Gaara said inwardly. _You must rise. You're almost there…_

And she was. The oasis was only a half a mile off, but already the woman looked as if she'd succumbed to the heat. The desert was indeed no place for a stranger. If you had not lived there all your life, things were going to be far worse than difficult for you. Especially for this woman who had gotten herself in the worst of situations…lost and dehydrated…looking for him.

"I have to keep going…" she panted. "I can't give up…"

_That's right, _Gaara thought with an internal nod. _Find your strength and keep going._

"Naruto-kun wouldn't give up," the woman added before forcing herself to rise. Gaara was surprised to hear Naruto's name from her. So she knew him, did she? Was she one of his friends? If that was the case, it was all the more imperative that she survive…

Gaara had an undying urge to look toward the horizon, just to see where the sun was, but from the position of Hinata's pouch he was unable to do so. Though it would be cooler when night came, it would quickly change to freezing. The desert was just strange that way. A most efficient killer. Night and day never mattered to it…which why it was the perfect birth place for him.

Gaara wasn't sure the woman was going to make it, but she did.

"I'm here…" she exhaled tiredly and happily as if announcing her arrival to her child after a long day's work. "I'm here…Naruto-kun…"

She slumped to the ground lifelessly, but with a tiny delirious smile on her face, and passed out.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

Hinata was surprised when she awoke to darkness. Or to be more accurate, freezing darkness. Still, she gripped her throat tightly with the thirst it craved and rolled over onto her back, making sure not to roll on the side which had the doll strapped to it. Hinata tried to get to get up, but fell to her elbows. Thank God the oasis's water was only a half a crawl away. She couldn't believe she'd collapsed right next to it…

Hinata cupped large amounts of water in both palms, holding as much as she could, and downed the life-giving sustenance as if she'd never had water before in her life. It was almost as if the water had an irresistible flavor to it with how good it felt sliding down her dry throat.

Hinata continued to drink until she started coughing, and when she'd finally had enough, crawled over to a large grey rock that lay resting against the tree and slumped against it.

Now she was hungry. Ahh, the human body is never happy. Always wanting and wanting…but then again, it needed a lot. Just like the person themselves, and right now Hinata needed the company of her teammates. And her niisan.

The water from the Oasis would keep her alive for a few more days, but only with luck would she come across Kiba and the others before she _died_.

Hinata shivered, drawing her knees against her chest, and sighed. Reaching into the lumpy pouch at her side, Hinata unlaced the opening and slid the doll out of it's resting place.

The Kage doll was so real looking that it almost passed for suitable company. Hinata giggled softly at the thought. She set the doll on the top of her knees in sitting position, staring at it with an amused smile. The refreshing water made her a bit happier than she was this afternoon.

"Is your name Gaara?" Hinata asked the doll while leaning against the rock. Her voice was very polite and sweet, as it usually was. It was more fun talking to the doll as if she were meeting a real person. Call her crazy, but what did crazy really matter way out in the desert alone?

Hinata folded her hands at her knees, lacing her fingers together, and cocked her head curiously at the doll. "I'm sorry, it's Gaara-sama, isn't it?" she said. "Or Kazekage-sama?" She giggled again. "Or maybe Kage-kun? I should only call the real Kazekage 'sama'. If he ever heard me call a doll that, I might lose his respect. Or he might think I was insane. Haha, but then again, here I am talking to a doll, so he probably wouldn't be that far off."

Despite the lacking of answer (she would be scared to death if it did, actually) Hinata found this one-sided conversation to be quite a time killer. Almost enjoyable. It was…different talking to someone--or something--with unsparing listening patience. Someone or something that would listen to whatever you had to say and never judge you…that must be a big part of why Kiba was so close with Akamaru.

Ah, but a doll was not a dog. It was a doll. An assembly of straw or wood, whatever it is they were made of, and they did not really listen. Because they couldn't. Still…

"Kage-kun, was it scary?" Hinata asked with genuine concern, staring at the doll. "You know, being in the ground like that? I would have been truly frightened. Who…" she squinted her eyes at the wooden figure as if trying to read an unusually tiny word or sentence. "Who put you there?"

Hinata glanced toward the sky, drinking in the stars and the moon. So much more exquisite in the desert than at home…_I guess the desert has beauties of it's own as well, _Hinata thought, _even if it does kill people._

"Oh," Hinata chirped quietly, looking back into the strangely penetrating eyes of the red-headed doll. "I didn't introduce myself, did I? My name is Hinata. Hyuga Hinata. Very nice to meet you."


	3. Slumber

Slumber

3

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Shikamaru had passed out hours ago, but Neji managed to keep his cool. Such was his nature. The hand which slashed Shikamaru's throat was made of something Neji assumed to be wood, but upon closer inspection he found that it was actually…bone. Human bone. Neji had seen this kind of demonic craft before…it was a puppet's arm. Whoever had made it put poison on the tips of it's claws, clearly with the intention of killing both Shikamaru and himself, so Neji concluded their barging into the underground chamber had been a trap from the start.

Luckily he had been nowhere near the puppet's claws when it attacked, or else they might have both been in serious trouble.

Neji himself had to carry the unconscious nin on his back in order to reach camp where Shikamaru could get the medical attention needed. As Neji was ascending the stone stairs to the desert's surface he realized that someone would had to have been controlling the puppet's hand for it to move, so whoever it was that attacked them had been watching from nearby…but when Neji emerged from the chamber with Shikamaru slumped over his shoulder, there was no one within range of his Byakugan.

Were Shikamaru not injured, the two would have chased after the enemies, or enemy, but his partner needed help _now_. Neji did not know how long Shikamaru would hold out before succumbing to the poison, so he had no choice but to make haste toward camp.

The night was dark and chilling, but the moon provided excellent light without the aid of Neji's Byakugan. That was good. Using the Byakugan for extended periods of time would have just tired him out all the more quickly.

Over Neji's shoulder Shikamaru grunted in pain, squeezing his eyes tightly as if trying to erase a bad memory or suffering from an agonizing headache. Neji had to hurry. If Shikamaru died, it was because of him, because he had failed to detect the puppet's hand. But how could the puppeteer have hidden it from him…?

No, that didn't matter right now. What mattered now was getting his partner back to camp. Hinata and the dog boy would have to fare on their own for a while.

Luckily Neji and Shikamaru had not lost their direction during the storm, though they had wandered a little of course, but still Neji knew where he was going. Camp was about a half a day away if he ran.

Neji only hoped his legs wouldn't give out before then.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

"Not Hinata's scent?" Kiba growled when Akamaru raised his head to give a soft, disappointing whine.

"Who's is it then?"

Akamaru's whine turned to a rumbling growl that resonated throughout his entire body, making his fur stand on end. "The enemy's," Kiba assumed aloud, lowering toward the ground. He grazed his nose along the sand's surface, sniffing for confirmation. "You're right," Kiba said, holding back a dog-like growl of his own. "They've been here." Kiba jumped to his feet, worry coursing through his chest and anger plain on his face. "Hinata could be in danger!" he exclaimed at Akamaru. "We have to hurry and go!"

Akamaru gave a low _ruff_ in agreement and waited for Kiba to jump on his back before bolting off. Kiba did, but not as quick as he would have if he'd been in top condition.

The two of them were tired as well--just not dead tired. Kiba's clan possessed much more energy than most because of their canine-like nature, but that didn't mean they were exempt from exhaustion all together. Kiba was certain Akamaru and he could hold out for at least another day and a half before needing rest, but until then they had a job to do.

"Please," Kiba whispered into the air. "Please be okay, Hinata…"

But the words were lost in the rushing air kicked up in the wind.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

This one was indeed a strange woman. This woman named…Hinata Hyuga. She'd set Gaara on her knees delicately and gently as if he were really alive, and stared into his eyes as if she could see answers in them. She'd asked very conversational questions, polite and kind. She had a pleasant voice and a pleasant face; all in all, a very alluring young woman, but still…very strange.

'Kage-kun', she'd called him. Personally, Gaara never cared what people called him; it was such an insignificant aspect of his life, for he was never used to friends or titles, but 'Kage-kun'…No one had ever called him that before. It sounded…childishly ridiculous.

Still, Gaara would have loved nothing better than to answer all her questions, but the confines of that bloody wooden body whose lips did not move kept him from doing and saying what he wished. Everything would be so much easier if only he could talk.

But it was pointless to dwell on that which you wish you had. Right now Gaara was an inanimate child's toy and unfortunatey that entailed leaving most things up to hope and other people. But this woman seemed reliable enough for the moment. Her Byakugan, which he had done research on during the chunin exams, was a wondrous and useful ability.

However, the utter _awareness_ of his uselessness did not slick by him so soundlessly this time. Gaara was finally able to let the right emotions seep into his mind after so many days, strangling him with the burning wires of anger. Gaara's vision was dulled with rage and the fact that he had no teeth with which to gind in irritation made things all the more unbearable. If he were to ever get his body back…

A soft sigh wisped through Gaara's ears, bringing him back to the calm atmsphere and quietness of night. The woman named Hinata was fast asleep, cradled against a rock, dozing with her long dark locks spilling over her shoulder. She'd moved him from the top of her knees onto her lap during some point and fell asleep with him there.

Gaara imagined that it was very soft where he lay, cushioned there on her plump… womanly legs. Gaara had never been this close to…anyone before. Physically, at least, and it made him very uncomfortable. Also, it was confusing. Especially since there was a faint desire to _want_ to feel the woman's leg's supporting his small and motionless body.

Once upon a time Gaara would have ached with the need to throttle this woman who lay sleeping so peacefully in front of him. Her seemingly bold actions of setting him on her lap (even though she had no idea it was bold) was a big part of it, but also that face of hers…

Even though it was so cold out, she looked utterly at peace, slumbering as if she were in her own safe bed at home. The jealousies the old Gaara would have felt watching her would have been staggering. Becuase she could sleep, emerse herslef in the blissful ignorance of sweet dreams, escaping from the pain of reality, while he could not...

But he can now. _Or could_…Gaara gave an inward chuckle that resonated with striking bitterness. Now, just like before, he was always awake. Only being in a doll's body was different. There was no desire or need for sleep as there had been with his old body, and there was no desire to eat. Gaara himself was never interested in food, nor was he a good sleeper, so the evaporation of those needs upon entering the doll's body was not a drastic change for him.

But he did miss it.

Things were very awkward for him after Shukaku disappeared. Being able to sleep for the first time was…joyous and frightening. Gaara had never known the obliviousness of sleep, and since he'd always been awake day and night, the thought of disappearing from the world and coming back without knowing at all what had happened in the time you were gone was…

Yes, that was very frightening to him. A few months was not enough time to get used to it, but…at the very least, sleeping felt nice. It was…refreshing. Never before then had his mind felt so…relaxed than on the day he'd first awoken from his first slumber. Gaara found he had more energy, and thinking and rationing had become much easier.

Yes, sleep was frightening…but it was also rewarding.

Gaara looked at the sleeping maiden in front of him.

She had suffered a great deal today, and he was glad to see her like this.

Strange, though, as to why this was…

Gaara had learned more quickly than he ever thought possible to…care for other people, or at the very least take their well being into consideration. Temari and Kankuro had to come first, of course, and gradually other relationships started to build from there.

And now…how he was at this moment, beloved Kazekage of Suna and trustworthy companion of so many ninja's, he could even care for a stranger he'd just met.

Yes…God must work miracles.

Even though Gaara could not sleep, he could close his eyes. Not physically of course, but he could block out visual images surrounding him. He thought of doing just that, just to see if he could fall sleep, but a slow and steady movement within his peripherals caught his attention.

_What is that? _Gaara thought in alarm, frustrated that he could not turn his head to look. From what he could see, though, Gaara concluded it was some sort of desert dwelling creature. It was small and black with a thin body and curved tail...

_Oh no…_

Hinata shifted and Gaara slid from her lap onto the ground beside her. From where he fell, Gaara could see much too clearly what the small creature was.

A scorpion, creeping right next to Hinata's exposed hand.

_No…_Gaara half pleaded, half growled. _Get away…_

The scorpion crept closer to Hinata's fingers with its claws now touching the tips of them.

Gaara let out a silent, frustrated cry at his utter helplessness. All he could do was lay there and watch. Scorpions…nearly all in the desert were poisonous, and Gaara knew for a fact this one was too; extremely so. If it stung Hinata…

The stinger on the scorpion's tail twitched. Gaara flinched inwardly, wishing with all his heart he could do…_something_.

_Get away from her! _Gaara cried inwardly. It was hell to be this silent and this helpless. He was a Kage for the love of God! This shouldn't…

The scorpion crawled onto Hinata's hand. She moved a little and the scorpion stilled.

_God…_Gaara thought in horror. If she moved at all…

_Move…_he commanded the sand. _Move…move….move…move…move…_

Hinata gave a tiny sigh and the locks spilling over her shoulder shifted slightly in response to a movement she made with her head.

_Obey me! _Gaara shouted at the sand. Never had the sand not done as he wished, and it was both frustrating and infuriating to have absolutely no power over it. But his chakra…

Hinata's body was beginning to shift sideways.

_No…_Gaara whispered with dread.

_Move…_

_Move…_

_Move…_

Hinata's hand slid across the sand as she moved her arm and the scorpion raised it's stinger high, preparing to strike.

_MOVE!_

Four ribbons of sand shot between Hinata's thin fingers and wrapped around the scorpion's torso, crushing it to pieces in less than half a second. It's innards began to leak into the sand, and the shell encasing it's body cracked and split open.

Hinata sighed in her sleep and brought her arm across her lap. She moved her hand about absentmindedly, as if drearily searching for something, then lazily opened her eyes for visual inspection. Tiredly she turned to Gaara's wooden body that lay sprawled on the ground beside her and hoisted him on her lap again.

She gave him one last contented look before quickly falling back into a peaceful slumber.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

The night was quickly pressing on and the chill created by Akamaru's speeding form was not helping. Still, dogs did much better in the cold than in the heat, and Kiba preferred the night desert to day desert without question.

As they were running, Akamaru came to a sudden stop and started growling. It was deep and threatening. "Are they here, Akamaru?" Kiba asked tensely. Akamaru gave a single rumbling bark as an answer.

Yes, they were.

Kiba hopped off Akamaru's back and balled his right hand into a fist, giving his left palm a good hard punch with it.

"All right, come out you slimy bastards!" Kiba threatened into the night. "Do it now or I'll drag you out!"

Akamaru barked loudly in agreement. The dog's voice had become so much deeper and wolf like since he was a pup…and actually sounded _scary_. Kiba grinned on the inside, but stared angrily into the empty air.

"We know you're out there!" Kiba shouted furiously. Then, in a quieter more menacing voice he added, "I can smell your _stink_."

As response there came a strange rattling sound in the distance. Akamaru and Kiba stilled. Kiba spread his feet apart, digging them into the sand and bowed his head like a wolf ready to spring forward for attack.

Akamaru's growl still resonated in his chest, only quieter. The rumble even reached Kiba's chest, making him want to do the same, but he had to keep his cool.

The rattling sounded again and this time Kiba listened harder. It sounded like…hollowed wood tapping against wood. Kiba sniffed the air and caught a faint scent of rotting bone tissue and…dried blood.

_What the hell is going on? _He seethed inwardly.

The rattling increased, echoing through the night, sounding as if they were coming from everywhere at once.

"Show yourselves!" Kiba yelled with fury. "I'm not in the mood for stupid-ass games!"

A hand shot out of the sand and gripped Kiba around his ankle. Kiba gave a very dog-like growl and kicked it furiously, sending the hand sailing into the sky. But the arm it was connected to squeezed out of the ground, groping the surface, looking for Kiba.

"What the hell is this?" Kiba exclaimed angrily. Akamaru growled viciously from beside him, sounding scarier than ever, and Kiba looked up.

Thin, rail-like figures rose out of the ground, stumbling and bearing pointed teeth.

Puppets. Lots of them, rising out of the ground like corpses summoned back to life…

"So that's what it was," Kiba grinned to himself. "Filthy dolls dug outta some kid's closet. Akamaru," he turned to his bear-sized pup. The dog barked with a booming thrill.

"Right. Let's do this."

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

Neji stopped running, but not because he was tired. "Byakugan!" he whispered, and scanned the area. A loud clacking of bone against bone rattled in the air, coming from all directions at the same time, and Neji tensed. He then looked at the ground, straining his Byakugan which was already strained, and twisted his mouth into a very unhappy frown.

"Hmph…" he snorted.

Carefully Neji set Shikamaru down and raised his hand in the air, palm facing outward while drawing the other one toward his chest.

"It seems you have some unfinished business with us…" Neji noted calmly.

A large number of gray, clattering puppets rose from the ground, baring scorpion like stingers from spine-like tails extending from their backs. With his Byakugan Neji could see black liquid dripping from the tips of them.

"I see…" Neji said, narrowing his eyes with distaste. "If that's how you want to do this…than come."

The blood thirsty puppets did not hesitate.


	4. Nice to Meet You Too

Nice to Meet You Too

4

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Kiba and Akamaru weren't exactly having the time of their lives, but at least they _were_ alive. There weren't that many puppets to take into account, but damn were they persistent. Their mouths would unlatch, bearing two sharp teeth that looked like they'd once belonged to that of an animal, and shoot swift blasts of chakra, aiming to kill.

"I've never seen things like these before," Kiba explained to Akamaru who was ripping into one of the puppets with his powerful jaws. Kiba himself was occupied with one or two, dodging and kicking. "Just what the hell are they? Puppets or marionettes? And who's controlling them?"

A puppet unhinged it's bone-like jaw and launched a photon of chakra at Kiba, but he dodged expertly. Unfortunately it wound up slamming Akamaru in his side.

"No!" Kiba shouted with panic.

Akamaru bared his teeth with agony, letting loose a ferocious howl, and lunged at the puppet.

Kiba bolted at another group on all fours, baring his claws like a beast, and slashed viciously at them.

Eventually Akamaru and Kiba were able to exterminate the puppets, but the large burn mark on Akamru's side left the canine quite beaten.

"Hang in there, Akamaru," Kiba uttered to his partner. The white beast lay on his stomach, growling with pain, and Kiba stroked the fur on his neck in an effort to calm him. He scrunched his nose tightly at the potent smell of Akamaru's burnt fur and skin, making his stomach twist in horrid disgust and anger. "You'll be okay, boy," Kiba reassured. "There's no internal damage, but for now you have to get up. More of these things could show up at any minute, so we need to keep moving."

Akamaru nodded, giving his white-snouted face one rough shake, and jumped to his feet. Turning to Kiba he gave two loud reassuring barks, and Kiba responded with a nod.

The remains of a puppet's limbs lay sprawled at Kiba's feet, and when he stared at it, scrunched his nose with bitter distaste.

"These puppets…were made from the bones of people," he whispered with heated loathing.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Neji cried powerfully, smashing the bone-puppets apart with blinding speed. It took care of a great number of them, but it did not destroy all of them. Neji still had a ways to go, for there were puppets popping up from every section of sand in the surrounding area. Shikamaru was, for the most part, safe behind him, but if Neji were to get stung with one of the puppets' tails, it would be over for the both of them.

Neji waited till the remaining group of three neared and lunged in his direction before executing what he knew would be his last attack.

"Heavenly Spin!" the Hyuga shouted, pivoting his heels and rotating a violent column of chakra which lit up the resounding darkness.

The puppets crashed into the barrier and flew backwards, breaking into pieces before even hitting the ground.

After hitting the sand, the puppets crumbled apart, snapping and breaking like the dry bones they were. There was no longer any chakra holding them together.

Neji fell to his knees, panting furiously.

"No…I used too much chakra…" he huffed with anger.

His Byakugan deactivated and his vision became blurred.

"Neji!" called a familiar voice.

_Thank God…_Neji thought with blatant relief.

Akamaru bounded onto the scene by Shikamaru, and Kiba leaped from his back to land in front of Neji. While Akamaru sniffed at Shikamaru's motionless body, whining in concern, Kiba crouched by Neji's side.

"You got attacked by them too?" he said, turning to one of the smashed puppets.

"Yeah…" Neji responded through heavy breaths. "And by the sound of things, so did you."

"Yeah. Are you okay?"

Neji's vision reeled and he clutched his forehead. "No…My strength…it's almost gone…Shikamaru…" he glanced over his shoulder to where Akamaru was nudging the unconscious nin's head, "…is poisoned…"

"Oh no…" Kiba muttered. "We have to get him back to camp right away! Can you stand?"

Neji focused on Kiba's eyes, trying to clear the image of his face. "Hinata…where is she?" He tried to sound angry, but fatigue kept his voice leveled.

"We lost each other in the storm…" Kiba admitted with shame. "I have no idea where she is."

The back of Neji's teeth bared and he dug his hand into the sand for support, clenching his fingers through the cool grains. With his other hand he grabbed Kiba by his collar, so swift he didn't even see it, and pulled Kiba's eyes directly in front of his.

"I'll kill you…for this…" Neji muttered in a promising threat, and fell forward, landing unconscious into the sand.

"Neji!" Kiba exclaimed.

On Neji's back Kiba saw a tear in his clothes along with a trace of black liquid seeped into the ripped edges. Kiba withdrew from the faint smell lingering off of it, blowing air out his nose.

Poison.

"Shit," he muttered.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

This time Hinata awoke to the bright light of the sun, thinking at once of how hot she was. Her second thought was of Kage-kun, the curious wooden doll sleeping on her lap. Or Hinata just thought of it as sleeping. The doll stared up at her with those glassy green life-like eyes and she smiled. "Haha, you look so stiff, Kage-kun," she commented, clearing her throat to erase the gruff edge of sleep from it. The doll's mouth was compressed into a horizontal line that gave it a look of calmness and boredom, and the eyes, as alive as they were, possessed little interest of it's surroundings. A very stoic little figure.

Hinata squinted away from the sun and brought out her canteen. All the nin had left camp with one. Too bad there was only one map, and unfortunately Shikamaru was the last one to have it. But it was useless to dwell on those things now…

Hinata tucked the Kage-doll back inside the leather pouch strapped to her side and made her way to the oasis where she dipped the open canteen inside the cool water. After securing it back on her belt, she scooped as much water as possible into her mouth. Hinata stood, brushing the dirt-like sand from her clothes, and activated her Byakugan, searching for any reasonable land markings or traces of her teammates.

"No sign of Kiba-kun or Niisan," she sighed. The young heiress turned her attention to the large rock she'd slept against last night and pulled out a kunai. She walked over to it and etched her initials into the hard stone, then tucked the weapon back inside it's holster, brushing the powdered granite from the thin crevices. "Hope someone finds this," she whispered aloud.

Before stepping away Hinata noticed something very strange on the sand next to the rock. "What is that?" she wondered. It looked like some kind of…creature, almost like a scorpion, squeezed and compressed together until the insides started secreting from it's shell-like skin. What could have done this? Surely Hinata had not stepped on it by accident--it wouldn't look that way if she did--and there was no predator of the scorpion Hinata was aware of that could have been capable of causing such a mess.

Hinata merely shrugged it off, as there was little purpose in the examination of such an irrelevant subject, but she was happy the scorpion had not dug it's stinger into her skin while she slept.

The morning, much to Hinata's misfortune, was every bit as hot as yesterday's afternoon, so that was indication that today's afternoon would be death threatening. Hinata constantly activated her Byakugan, searching for something, for someone, but there was nothing…

"Why haven't I seen anyone?" she thought aloud. "I at least should have been able to see a few different cacti or rock formations, but everything looks the same. This cannot be…"

It was this thought that had Hinata marking every solid object she passed, etching her initials into the rocks and even into the cacti.

Not only would it help her distinguish a path, but also aid anyone who came looking for her. _If _anyone ever came looking for her…

Hinata tried rationing the water in her canteen to the best of her ability, but by late afternoon, every drop was gone.

Hinata, glaring up at the sun, accidentally tripped over the edge of a sand dune and slid all the way to it's trough, back sliding against the sand.

"Bad…" Hinata mumbled to herself. She couldn't even sigh at her stupidity anymore…the situation was becoming far too severe. And the heat…it was killing her.

Hinata looked at her side to make sure the Kage doll had not gotten injured and gasped when she saw there was nothing to inspect.

"Kage-kun?" Hinata called with panic. "Kage-kun, where are you?!"

Hinata jumped to her feet and spun in all directions. A little flash of red caught her attention and she saw the wooden doll buried in the sand not three feet away. Hinata rushed over and lifted it from the ground, brushing the tiny grains from it's perfectly white robes.

"I'm so sorry, Kage-kun," Hinata apologized to the doll. "I-I'm sorry for being so useless…" This time she did laugh, chuckling sadly. "But I suppose it's just in my nature. My father often told me how useless as I was, so I don't blame you for thinking the same."

Hinata lowered the doll to fasten it back inside her pouch, then stopped. Instead, she brought the doll to her neck and tucked it inside her jacket so that it's head popped out right beneath her chin. "This should be more comfortable, Kage-kun," she assured the little figure. "At least this was we can talk…"

The heat was really a dangerous weapon. The effects of it on the brain were as powerful as any jutsu, but somehow Hinata felt that it wasn't the drought making her act that way…

"I-I th-think I m-m--" Hinata stopped herself and cleared her throat with a hint of shame. "I think I may have gotten us more lost than we already were," she admitted to the doll. Even to this small inanimate figure Hinata did not allow herself to stutter as she had when she was younger. To Hinata the change in her speech represented the change in herself, so every time she felt her words jumbling together, stopped from speaking all together.

Hinata felt the heat increase, hazing everything around her, and she fell backwards onto the sand. Sitting up, Hinata let out a strained breath to regulate the airflow in her lungs. Such hot air…"The human body is so weak…" Hinata said, shaking her head. "Or perhaps it's just me, Kage-kun. Perhaps I am still as weak as I used to be…"

Hinata's vision was beginning to blur and her head was reeling with fatigue. "I h-haven't eaten in two days," she said. "I d-don't know how much longer I can keep this up…"

Hinata put both hands on the ground and bent forward, preparing to rise, but something came into her vision.

The base of a long white robe came into view and Hinata looked up too see a face, first silhouetted by the sun before becoming clear.

"K-Kage-kun?" Hinata stuttered in shock. Was…was this possible…?

The person who was an exact likeness of the doll tucked inside her jacket, stared down on her with focused eyes. His read hair flared up above his head looking like blood and fire, and when he crouched down to meet Hinata's eyes, she saw that it was also alarmingly soft. There was a small itching desire in the back of her puzzlement that urged her to stroke it, but she dutifully restrained.

"Hinata…is it?" the boy said in a low, handsome voice.

Hinata blinked at him a few times, much too confused to even care that his face was so close to hers, and said unsurely, "Y-Yes."

"Are you a friend of Naruto Uzamaki?"

This surprised Hinata greatly, and even though the heat was unbearable, she found her cheeks raising a few degrees higher. "Y-Yes!"

"I see…so you are from Konoha than?"

Another "yes".

"Do you know who I am?" he asked calmly and politely.

Hinata couldn't help but take a quick glance down at the little red headed doll poking out of her jacket.

"K-K-Kage-kun?"

The boy's smooth lips twitched as if he wanted to smile, but reformed back to a straight line and he answered, "Yes…in a way, I suppose. But I am also the current Kazekage of Sand."

Hinata gasped. "S-So you're--"

"Gaara Sabaku. Nice to meet you."

"N-Nice to meet you too…" Hinata responded dumbly.

"Listen to me, Hinata. You can't die here. There is little I can do for you, but I cannot allow you to give up. Please persevere, as it is the only way you'll make it out of this desert alive. If you can make it to a familiar enough territory I can point you in the right direction, but for now you must rise."

"K-Kage-ku…I m-mean Kazekage-sama, we have been looking for you for s-so long. Won't you please come back?" Hinata stared at him with pleading eyes, causing Gaara to draw back in mild surprise. He looked down at the sand, eyes seemingly straying to Hinata's lap for some reason, then said very quietly, "I…cannot."

"B-But why?"

Gaara hesitated, then looked into her eyes again. "Because I don't know how."

The Kazekage's image began fading, melting into the hot air, and Hinata's gut wrenched with panic. "N-No! Please don't leave me alone!" she called.

"You are not alone…" his fading image said, and when finally he was fully gone, the resonating bass of his voice commanded gently, "Rise…" and there was no more.

Hinata straightened her knees, rising from the hot ground, and stumbled a bit. She looked every which way, searching for the boy, but there were no signs of him.

Hinata looked down at the doll tucked inside her jacket and pulled it out, staring worriedly into its eyes. "K…Kazekage-sama?" she asked it.

When the doll did not respond (not that she really hoped it would) Hinata shook her head and placed it back inside her jacket. It's tussled red hair tickled her chin. "N-No…a mirage…just a mirage," Hinata told herself.

But the hair on the little doll's head…it was very soft.

**//********************************//A/N//*********************************//**

**Haha. The analogy with Gaara's hair. Did you get it?**


	5. The Doll House

The Doll House

5

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

"What happened?" Sakura demanded when the two unconscious nins were carried through the tent's entrance. She'd been having a discussion with Kankuro and Naruto about their lack of progress, for their team had found no clues as to Gaara's whereabouts in the northern parts of Wind. Of course there were a lot of areas that still needed to be explored, but the team had arrived only late last night to get information on how the other teams where doing.

It was morning when Lee had come in with Neji and Shikamaru slumped over both his shoulders, and he set them down on two separate cots for examination. "Neji! Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I don't know what happened," Lee explained, giving Sakura room to examine them. "Akamaru just came back with the two of them unconscious."

There was obvious concern in the Taijutsu master's voice and expression. Neji was his teammate, and Shikamaru was a very intelligent ninja of Konoha. He was profoundly worried over the both of them.

"It looks as if they've been poisoned," Sakura noted, checking for fevers and monitoring their unsteady breathing. "But how? What else do you now, Lee?" She turned to him very seriously, waiting for an answer. Naruto went to stand next to her, clearly impatient for an explanation.

Lee creased his eyebrows in fierce determination and said, "Akamaru came back with this," he placed a very damaged item on the table near the cots. It was hard and grey, resembling that of some sort of spine-like tail, and on the tip of it's stinger there were dry traces of black liquid."

"I recognize this…" Sakura said, eyes boggling to a serious degree.

"So do I," Kankuro came from behind them, taking the puppet's tail in his possession. "This can only belong to a master puppet maker. These are bones linked together with obvious craftsmanship. I've seen only one other person use something like this in battle."

"Who is it?" Naruto demanded.

Kankuro glanced at Sakura and she nodded her head in silent agreement , accompanied with an exchange of dread. "Sasori," Kankuro said loathingly. "He's back."

"Excuse me," Lee interrupted quickly. Everyone turned to him. "But will Neji and Shikamaru be alright? Can you heal them?" He sounded serious, yet worried at the same time.

"I can," Sakura told him, taking a swift glance at the unconscious nin. "But I have to do it quickly. I don't know when exactly they were poisoned, but I know it only takes three days for it to fulfill it's purpose. I must hurry and create the remedy, but I'll need the ingredients first."

"I see! Please, Sakura-chan, I will help in any way I can! Just tell me what to do! And also…"

"What is it?" Kankuro asked gravely.

"Akamaru…he's wounded as well. There's a very serious burn mark on his thigh and he needs treatment as right away."

"Akamaru?" Naruto exclaimed. "The pooch is hurt too? Where the heck are Kiba and Hinata?" He sounded both angry and worried. Lee responded immediately, but with an unconcealed sense of dread.

"They didn't come back."

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

Hinata activated her Byakugan and gasped. "Wh-What is this?" she breathed, suddenly forgetting the impact of the scorching heat.

Standing before her, dark and menacing, was a very tall tower. Usually one would not have missed such a spectacle, but surrounding the large structure was a barrier of chakra. Hinata would never have been able to locate the irregular chakra flow without her Byakugan, and once she deactivated it, as hard as it was, a tower appeared right out of the air.

And it wasn't just any tower either. It was a tower made entirely out of…human bones and puppet parts. It was the most demonic thing Hinata had ever seen, and even though everything about the tower told her to stay away, she knew very clearly what she had to do. If there was any clue that existed that hinted as to where the Kazekage had gone, Hinata was certain she'd find it in here.

She tucked Kage-kun more securely inside her jacket and approached the doors. They were big, heavy, and sickening. The frame was made completely out of the dried skulls of creatures and humans alike, the doorknobs where merely two awkwardly bent puppet arms hammered into the wood of the doors which they themselves looked like coffin lids of those who'd been buried alive and tried to claw their way through.

The first thing Hinata noticed when she walked inside was the horrid chilling sensation that punched through her skin. The second thing she noticed was the very large space circling the inside of the tower which totally contradicted with the outside diameter. It was so big… "What is this place…" Hinata whispered in horror. The walls were made of black stone and granite. The cold bounced off the walls like an echo, seeming for all the world as if night in the desert came solely from this place alone. To Hinata it felt like death was looming throughout every nook and crevice, sucking the energy out of everything living and converting the purity of whatever may stumble in it's wake to something dark and tainted.

Hinata thought of turning back, but pushed herself along and reluctantly continued exploring. Duty came before fear, but that did not mean she couldn't _be_ afraid. Everything looked very old, but somehow Hinata felt as if some sort of dark life still loomed within it's walls somewhere. Hinata half hoped she'd find the Kazekage here, but when she thought about it, decided that clues would be better, since anyone who were to wind up in this place would most likely succumb to a supernatural death of some sort. She just hoped she was wrong in her case.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

It was very strange. Gaara couldn't explain how he'd projected himself out of the doll's body, but somehow he was able to talk to Hinata this way. He tried again and again to repeat this in order to tell her not to tread into that strange tower, but was utterly incapable. It didn't make any sense! Just like when he killed that scorpion that'd come so close to stinging Hinata--repeating that was also an impossibility.

Once again he was stuck as a lifeless puppet, forced into silence while danger was happening all around him. He didn't want Hinata going into that place she'd found. Even as a doll he could sense the evil inside of it, and though he was curious as to what lay inside, it wasn't worth putting the Hyuga in danger.

It upset him, though, that something like this was in his desert yet he had not known about it. The puppet tower was well concealed in a barrier of chakra, creating the illusion that was air and emptiness, and probably housed dangerous criminals. Or criminal.

Sasori.

Had he known about it Gaara would have eradicated the tower himself long ago.

It was far easier examining the world with his head poking out of Hinata's jacket and he was very glad she'd decided to position him there. His arms were draped over her collar so he wouldn't fall inside, and his hair licked the bottom of Hinata's chin every now and then when she looked down.

As she explored the dark tower, Hinata stopped from time to time to examine the very peculiar structures clasping to the walls. Stone puppets, wooden puppets….and human puppets. Every time Hinata gulped and her heart sped with fear, Gaara knew by the small movements of her chest. The pounding of her heart vibrated through his wooden legs and he wished he were alive again so he could tell her to calm down, or at least offer some reassurance.

There were stairs that slowly ascended to the upper parts of the tower which Hinata climbed slowly.

She activated her Byakugan after reaching the next floor and gasped.

"Chakra…" she whispered hoarsely. Gaara waited anxiously for her next words, hoping she might elaborate a bit more. _What about chakra? _He demanded inwardly.

"It's…tainted.; leaking all over the place. It's even seeping through the walls…"

This was interesting. The kind of chakra she was talking about, dark chakra, was very dangerous. It's the kind of chakra used to produce curses and seals. If one did not know how to handle this kind of chakra properly, the effects could be life-threatening. It was no surprise with how ominous the tower was that there'd be copious amounts of it, but this was all the more reason for Hinata to escape while she could.

Gaara didn't know if Sasori's replica was there or what he was capable of, but he didn't want the strange girl carrying him in her jacket to face it alone. Gaara doubted he'd be able to summon the power needed to manipulate sand at all, much less to the extent where it could be used for help. If Hinata were to be attacked, there was nothing he could do for her.

Hinata ascended further, persistent in her venture to uncover something of use, and came upon a room where on the hard stone walls were strung dozens of puppets. There was a slight gasp in the woman's chest when she came across it. They looked like…real people. If not for the puppet-like hinge in their jaws and the balled joints of their ligaments you'd think they were actual human beings. Even Gaara, who'd seen his fair share of death and mutilation, found this to be truly sickening.

No one should have to be exposed to anything like this. It turned his insides to know that there had been something like this right outside of his Village…

Hinata had her Byakugan activated, so there must have been plenty she was seeing that Gaara was not. He waited patiently for her to say something aloud. "Dark chakra…" she whispered. "Pouring from their mouths…"

Suddenly the jaws on all the puppets unhinged, bearing authentic mundane teeth, and Hinata flinched back with shocking alarm.

"What is this?" Hinata uttered in horror.

"Nice of you to come," A deep voice resonated from the walls. Hinata spun around to see who it was, and in the center of the very empty room was a dark figure cloaked in brown, tattered rags. Well, the room was almost empty.

Directly in the center of the circular chamber was amcrystallized case of chakra. And inside was…Gaara's body. Inwardly Gaara boggled his eyes in shock. There he was, eyes drifted closed exactly as if he was asleep. There was no feeling in the world that compared to what he was feeling now, staring at himself like a spirit forced out of his body, but then again, that's exactly what had happened and what he was.

"Who are you?" Hinata demanded.

"I didn't think that anyone would find my sanctuary so quickly, but you proved me wrong, Heiress…"

Hinata raised her head, clearly surprised.

"What do you know about me?" she demanded in her unthreatening voice of a voice.

"I know a lot about you…and your friends. Naruto Uzamaki…one of the Jinchuriki, is he not?" Hinata tensed at Naruto's name. So did Gaara. Just not physically. "And that dog fellow, Inuzuka, wandering my desert along with that other Konoha ninja and white-eyed relative of yours. And that wench Haruno…she is here too, correct?"

Hinata bore into his puppet-like eyes with her Byakugan, ready for an attack of any kind, but the stranger just kneeled there on the floor with his dark tattered robes spilling off his shoulders like mold. "And your name?" Hinata pressed.

"…Sasori."

Hinata looked upon him with surprise and suspicion. "You lie…I've heard about you. Sasori is dead; I heard so from Sakura-san myself. She killed you--"

"She _thinks _she killed me," he interrupted in a voice close to irritation. This person…or puppet…whatever he was, wasn't very lively or expressive, and every word he said was calm with only faint hints of what he was really feeling, and the feeling Hinata detected now was absolute hatred. "Her and that old fool Chiyo," Sasori continued, "thinks they have accomplished some great feat exterminating one of my many…many copies."

Hinata gasped. Gaara's innards wrenched with shock. More…there were more of him.

Hinata took a swift glance at the crystallized case behind him where held Gaara's body unconscious body and demanded, "What have you done to the Kazekage?"

Gaara himself waited for this answer with forced restraint. When Sasori's pupil rolled forward inside his head only to drop down to his tiny wooden form like a slot machine, he was thoroughly sickened. Hinata made some sort of sound inside her throat which only Gaara heard and it sounded like she shared his disgust. This wasn't a person at all in any sense of the word. This was a true monster.

Sasori's eyes, if that's what you'd want to call them, left Gaara's form, rolling around inside his eye sockets as if not properly attached, and rolled to Hinata. "He is no longer my concern," Sasori replied to Hinata's demand. "Nor is he in any condition any longer fit for Kazekage. Tell the old fools of a counsel back in Suna to pick another one."

Gaara's insides trembled with loathing at his words, making him wish more than ever he had control over his limbs once more. There was nothing in the room which could possibly have been transformed into sand and Gaara's gourd had long since dispersed to dirt when his chakra was confined. Even if he somehow retrieved the ability of sand shifting there was nothing with which to shift. The frustration was almost life threatening, but then again, Gaara no longer had a life to threaten.

Hinata did. Gaara feared that once talking became absent of meaning the battle would commence and she would not be strong to defeat him. There were probably traps hidden all throughout the tower so the chances of her escaping were most likely very slim. If anything this Sasori replica had deactivated them on her way up so he could talk with her face to face.

"Gaara's body is there, isn't it?" Hinata said, indicating the crystallized person behind him. "Tell me what you've done to him! I don't have time for games."

"This is no longer Gaara," Sasori told her. Only he can Gaara knew what that meant.

"No…" Hinata whispered in absolute horror. "Y-You mean you've turned him into a puppet?"

The trembling rage inside Gaara's chest was replaced with dread and sickening terror. He hadn't even thought of that! If indeed that body of his inside that crystal was already a puppet there was nothing that could be done. He was stuck this way forever…

Sasori waited several agonizing moments before responding. "…No," he said, much to Gaara and Hinata's relief. "I have other plans in mind for this body."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked urgently.

"I will inhabit the body of the Kazekage the second I am able, making jutsu's infinitely more effective than they are in this decrepit shell of a puppet."

"I won't let you do that!" Hinata shouted. "I will return the Kazekage back to his people and back to brother and sister. There's no way I'm going to fail when he's right here in front of me."

Gaara now, more than ever, feared for the girl's death. She didn't look strong enough to defeat one of the Akatsuki by herself, but then again he really knew nothing about her. She was, after all, one of Naruto's friend's, not to mention Sasori himself in his current puppet's body was not very mobile. And the other thing he said about jutsus…hope flared within Gaara. Perhaps he would be able to turn back to normal after all. Maybe there were other ways to reverse the jutsu he'd cast over him…

However, if his body never left this tower it hardly mattered at all. If Hinata died so did he.

Something under Sasori's dark robes shifted and Hinata tensed once more, this time for an actual attack. Six puppet arms extended from beyond the tattered sheets draped over his body and from them glowed many strings of chakra.

No…Sasori might not be up to full par, but he was, by no means at all, was an easy target.

The puppets hanging on the walls dropped one by one in rapid motion, crouching upon impact with the floor, then straightened their legs to stand, facing Hinata at eye level.

"This tower is a killer every bit efficient as the desert itself," Sasori explained. "It casts genjutsus all by itself. Whenever someone comes too close the tower activates, setting illusions of endless sand dunes and skies, throwing the trespasser off their original direction, stranding them in the desert until they starve or dehydrate. The puppets you see before you…were all once one of those victims."

Hinata narrowed her eyes, realizing at once what Gaara himself just realized. That's the reason Hinata couldn't find her way out of the desert…because of the tower. If not for her Byakugan she would have died already. "And the barrier around the tower…" Hinata said, waiting for him to say what she'd already figured out.

"Was a mechanism used for concealing the tower itself. Never before this point has it ever been discovered and only because of your kekkei genkai were you able to locate it. However, not that it matters anymore. Your life ends here."


End file.
